Saturday 29 June 2013

Science and Faith

I remember once during a college class, our instructor directed us to stroke out certain information in our textbook and dictated what to substitute in its place. It was a weird experience. How could incorrect information get into a textbook? After all, textbooks are not self-published. Wasn't there a textbook review committee? Didn't textbooks have to undergo a rigorous process before being published? Is not scientific fact actually scientific or factual? 
Because health science is the field with which I am most familiar, I will address a few comments here. When I was pursuing my degree, the last course I took was Medical Anthropology. It was a fascinating course and I'm glad I took it. It really gave me an interesting view of medical "science." One of the course readings was the book Medicine and Culture, by Lynn Payer, which compares how medicine is practiced in 4 different countries: the US, England, France and Germany. In the words of the author, "How can medicine, which is commonly supposed to be a science, particularly in the United States, be so different in four countries whose peoples are so similar genetically?" Good question. Why is it felt necessary to be as aggressive as possible in treatment in the US, but not get any better results than in other countries where treatment is not so aggressive? How can medications that are released for public use as scientifically validated for safety and efficacy be later withdrawn due to serious and sometimes fatal adverse reactions?
Just how trustworthy and reliable are science and scientists? In a paper by Daniele Fanelli, How Many Scientists Fabricate and Falsify Research?, nearly 2% of scientific researchers admitted to fabricating, falsifying or modifying data and almost 34% admitted other questionable practices. Hmm, seems to me that if you're guilty of fabricating data, you're not honest enough to rely on to admit it, so I suspect the percentages are much higher. 
It seems that science is not a safe and reliable source for truth. 
Which brings me to the topic of evolution. When I was in public schools (elementary and high school), evolution was taught as scientific fact. It seemed so rational, a foregone conclusion that no one could controvert, that I almost came to believe in it. But then I came across some information that showed evolution is not so scientific after all. As a matter of fact, the theory of evolution (yes, that's exactly what it is - a theory, not fact) actually violates some inviolable laws of science. Like the laws of thermodynamics, for example. If you don't remember what those are, you can google them. I'm not a scientist, so I don't intend to get into a scientific discussion here, nor do I intend to engage in controversy, but from what I've studied, it takes more faith to believe in evolution than it does to believe in creation. I'm not asking you to take my word for it. But I am asking you to study it with an open mind. Here's where I'd start:
http://amazingdiscoveries.org/C-deception-chance-design-science This is information written by Dr. Walter Veith, a man who used to be an atheist, evolutionist, university science professor. 
Here are some more links to consider:
http://www.creationsciencetoday.com/ 
http://www.icr.org/ 
http://creation.com/ 
http://www.answersingenesis.org/ 
http://creationresearch.org/ 
http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ 
http://www.grisda.org/ 
 To those of you who profess to believe in God and evolution, I ask you: if your god isn't powerful enough to create and sustain the universe, what good is he? How can you pick and chose what parts of the Bible are truth and what parts are myth? What is your guide to absolute truth? If we evolved, then what need have we of a Saviour? "Let God be true, and every man a liar." Romans 3:4.
Study the information for yourself and make an informed decision, not just what you were taught in school. 
"Keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called which some professing have erred concerning the faith." 1 Timothy 6:20-21 KJV; or in the New International Version: "Guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith."
God bless.
 

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